Section 11-1709. TRANSFERABLE DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS (DD)

 

1709.1This section shall authorize the transfer of development rights from a project within the DD Overlay District to a receiving lot or lots located elsewhere in the DD Overlay District or in the Downtown East, New Downtown, or other receiving zones or sites pursuant to this section.

 

1709.2Transferable development rights shall be generated either by historic preservation as provided in § 1707, bonus uses pursuant to the subarea provisions of §§ 1703 through 1705, or the residential development provisions of § 1706.3. Transferable development rights shall also be generated pursuant to the downtown historic properties residential rehabilitation incentive provisions of § 755.

 

1709.3No transfer of development rights from historic properties pursuant to §§ 755 and 1707, nor of bonus density derived from bonus uses, shall be effective under this section unless an instrument, approved by the Office of the Attorney General to be legally sufficient to effect such a transfer and approved in content by the Zoning Administrator and the Director of the D.C. Office of Planning, has been entered into among all of the parties concerned, including the District of Columbia.

 

1709.4In the case of transferable development rights derived from historic preservation pursuant to § 1707, the instrument shall effect the requirements of § 1707.5 as well as the applicable requirements of this section.

 

1709.5In the case of bonus density derived from bonus uses, the following provisions shall apply:

 

(a)The property owner shall obtain a building permit indicating in appropriate plans the floor area designed and reserved for the designated bonus uses;

 

(b)The instrument of transfer shall indicate the size of the applicable bonus uses in square feet of floor area and the location of bonus uses by reference to the plans required by paragraph (a);

 

(c)The indicated floor area shall be occupied by the designated bonus uses, or held as vacant;

 

(d)The instrument of transfer may be executed to transfer development rights to receiving lots after the building permit has been issued; provided, that no certificate of occupancy for the transferred floor area shall be issued for the receiving lot until the conditions specified in paragraphs (e) or (f) of this subsection, as applicable, have been met;

 

(e)If the project on the sending lot generates transferable development rights from bonus uses of less than fifteen thousand square feet (15,000 ft.2) of gross floor area, any transferred development rights shall vest in the receiving lot without regard for the status of the development on the sending lot, after the certificate of occupancy for the bonus uses on the sending lot has been issued;

 

(f)If the project on the sending lot generates transferable development rights from bonus uses of fifteen thousand square feet (15,000 ft.2) or more of gross floor area, any transferred development rights shall vest in the receiving lot without regard for the status of development on the sending lot, after applicant provides evidence of a lease agreement with a complying user/occupant of the bonus gross floor area; provided:

 

(1)The applicant shall provide the Zoning Administrator and the Director of the D.C. Office of Planning with evidence of the lease agreement with the operator of the bonus use; and

 

(2)The Zoning Administrator, with the concurrence of the Director of the Office of Planning, will certify in writing that the requirements of this paragraph have been satisfied; and

 

(g)Following the execution and recordation of an instrument transferring development rights to a receiving lot, any modification of provisions of the instrument that relates to the type, size, or discontinuance of a bonus use in the sending lot shall require the approval of the Zoning Commission, after public hearing and with the concurrence of the Office of Planning; provided, that the Commission shall find that the proposed modification is fully justified and consistent with the purposes of this chapter.

 

1709.6The instrument of transfer shall increase the development rights under the Zoning Regulations otherwise available to the receiving lot, to the extent of the rights transferred.

 

1709.7If more than one transfer of development rights is made from a sending lot, the second transfer and all subsequent transfers shall be numbered "two" and sequentially, and the instrument of transfer shall include the names of the transferors and transferees involved in all previous transfers, including the amount of gross floor area transferred and the dates of recordation of each transfer.

 

1709.8Transferable development rights may be re-transferred from the original receiving lot to another eligible receiving lot; provided, that there is compliance with the procedures specified in § 1709.7 and other applicable provisions.

 

1709.9Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the purchase of transferable development rights by an entity or individual who intends to resell the transferable development rights at a future date for use on a receiving lot, so long as there is compliance with this section and chapter.

 

1709.10A certified copy of the instrument of transfer shall be filed with the Zoning Administrator prior to approval by the Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs of any building permit application affected by the transfer.

 

1709.11The instrument shall be recorded in the Office of the Recorder of Deeds, serving as a notice both to the receiving lot and to the sending lot by virtue of this agreement for transfer of required gross floor area or bonus floor area.

 

1709.12The notice of restrictions and transfer shall run with the title and deed to each affected lot.

 

1709.13A building that has been constructed or that is under construction as of January 18, 1991, shall not be eligible to earn bonus density or transferable development rights, nor to utilize the combined lot development provisions.

 

1709.14The instrument of transfer shall be processed in the government as follows:

 

(a)The applicant shall submit the instrument of transfer to the Zoning Administrator, with a copy provided to the Director of the Office of Planning;

 

(b)The Zoning Administrator and the Office of Planning shall review the instrument to determine whether its contents are complete and accurate as to the applicable provisions of the DD Overlay District;

 

(c)If the Zoning Administrator and the Director of the Office of Planning find that the instrument is complete and accurate in content, the Zoning Administrator shall transmit the instrument to the Office of the Attorney General, together with a written statement that the content complies with the provisions of the DD Overlay District;

 

(d)The Office of the Attorney General shall determine whether the instrument is legally sufficient to effect the transfer of development rights;

 

(e)If the Office of the Attorney General finds the instrument to be legally sufficient, the Office of the Attorney General shall forward it to the Mayor after notifying the Zoning Administrator of the finding;

 

(f)After signature by the Mayor or by the Secretary of the District of Columbia for the Mayor, the covenant or instrument of transfer shall be returned to the Zoning Administrator;

 

(g)The applicant, upon notification by the Zoning Administrator that the instrument has been signed by the Mayor, shall take the covenant to the Recorder of Deeds, who shall record the covenant with the applicable sending and receiving lots, and provide the applicant with two (2) certified copies of the covenant and of title certificates for all affected properties; and

 

(h)The applicant shall provide one (1) certified copy to the Zoning Administrator and one (1) to the Office of Planning.

 

1709.15The Downtown East receiving zone consists of the C-3-C and HR/C-3-C zoned portions of Squares numbered 565, 567, 569 through 574, 625, 626, 627, and 628 through 631.

 

1709.16The New Downtown receiving zone consists of the C-3-C zoned portions of Squares numbered 72 through 73, 74, 76, 78, 85, 86, 99, 100, and 116 through 118.

 

1709.17The North Capitol receiving zone consists of Squares 668 through 677, 709 through 713, and 715, each zoned C-3-C.

 

1709.18The Capitol South receiving zone consists of those portions of Squares 695 through 697, N697, 698, 699, N699, 737 through 742, N743, and 766, each zoned C-3-C.

 

1709.19The Southwest receiving zone consists of Squares 268, 270, 299, 300, 327, 386, 387, 463 through 466, 493 through 495, and 536 through 538, and Lot 61 in Square 435, each zoned C-3-C.

 

1709.20If the height of a receiving building exceeds the height that the provisions of this title allow as a matter of right for a building located on an abutting lot, including a lot that is separated from the receiving lot by an alley, no part of the receiving building shall project above a plane at a forty-five degree (45°) angle from a line that is as follows:

 

(a)Directly above the zone district boundary line between such abutting lot and the receiving lot; and

 

(b)Above such boundary line by the distance of the matter-of-right height that this title allows for such abutting lot.

 

1709.21Except as provided in the second sentence, the maximum permitted building height in the New Downtown, North Capitol, Capitol South, and Southwest receiving zones, the maximum permitted building height shall be that permitted by the Act to Regulate the Height of Buildings in the District of Columbia, approved June 1, 1910 (36 Stat. 452, as amended; D.C. Official Code §§ 6-601.01 to 6-601.09 , and the maximum permitted FAR shall be 10.0 for buildings permitted a height of one hundred thirty feet (130 ft.), and 9.0 for buildings permitted a lesser height.  A building on Square 766 may exceed a height of ninety (90) feet if the Zoning Commission, after hearing, finds that the additional height:

 

(a) Will be sufficiently setback from the eastern building face to avoid shadowing the lower buildings in Square 797 to the east; and

 

(b)Will provide a suitable northern focal point for the Canal Blocks Park.

 

 

1709.22In the New Downtown receiving zone, the height of a receiving building may not be measured from a point that fronts on New Hampshire Avenue.

 

1709.23In the Downtown East receiving zone, the maximum permitted FAR for any permitted uses shall be 9.0 and the maximum permitted building height shall be one hundred ten feet (110 ft.)

 

1709.24In addition to the matter-of-right transfers authorized by this section, a lot that is approved and developed as a Planned Unit Development pursuant to chapter 24 of this title may serve as a receiving lot for transferable development rights; provided:

 

(a)The Planned Unit Development shall be located in a receiving zone or in a DD/C-2-C, DD/C-3-C, or DD/C-4 Overlay District;

 

(b)The maximum permitted building height shall be that permitted by the Act to Regulate the Height of Buildings in the District of Columbia, D.C. Official Code §§ 6-601.01 to 6-601.09 (2001)(formerly codified at D.C. Code §§ 5-401 to 5-409 (1994 Repl.)); and the maximum permitted FAR shall be 10.5 for buildings permitted a height of one hundred thirty feet (130 ft.) and 9.5 for buildings permitted a lesser height; and

 

(c)Development rights may not be transferred to a lot that is within the site of a Planned Unit Development approved prior to October 1, 1989, nor to a historic landmark or a lot in a historic district.

 

authority

The Zoning Commission for the District of Columbia (the “Commission”), pursuant to its authority under §§ 1, 3, and 8 of the Zoning Act of 1938, approved June 20, 1938 (52 Stat. 797, 798, and 799; D.C. Official Code §§ 6-641.01, 6-641.03, and 6-641.07).

source

Final Rulemaking published at 38 DCR 612, 635 (January 18, 1991); as amended and renumbered by: Final Rulemaking published at 39 DCR 8312, 8318 (November 13, 1992); and Final Rulemaking published at 46 DCR 1016, 1018 (February 5, 1999); as amended by Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 5871, 5874 (July 21, 2000); Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 6230, 6232 (August 4, 2000); Final Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 9741-43 (December 8, 2000), incorporating by reference the text of Proposed Rulemaking published at 47 DCR 8335, 8483-86 (October 20, 2000); as amended by Final Rulemaking and Order No. 06-23 published at 54 DCR 9393 (September 28, 2007); as corrected by Errata Notice published at 58 DCR 4314, 4315 (May 20, 2011).